By IANS,
New Delhi : India retained its position as the world’s top recruiter in October-December 2007, though the level of hiring dipped when compared to the previous quarter, a survey released Tuesday said.
The report by headhunter Manpower Inc said the employment outlook in India for October-December fell to a seasonally adjusted 43 percent from 45 percent in the prior quarter.
The report is based on a poll covering about 50,000 CEO across 33 countries, which were surveyed across the globe.
“The result is mixed. Some industry sectors seem to be experiencing the first signs of a global slowdown,” Manpower India managing director Naresh Malhan said in a statement.
India’s services-heavy economy grew the slowest in over three years in the June quarter, weighed down by seven-year high interest rates and record oil prices.
Growth in the services sector, which accounts for more than half of India’s output, slowed to 10 percent in the June quarter from 11.2 percent a year ago. Financial, insurance and real estate services growth declined to 9.3 percent from 12.6 percent.
Manpower’s survey showed that among financial, insurance and real estate firms, the hiring index stood at 33 percent, 23 percentage points below the prior quarter.
For services companies, it came in 11 percentage points weaker at 47 percent.
But more manufacturers are optimistic on hiring, with the sector index up 14 percentage points to 44 percent for the quarter, according to the survey.
Miners and construction firms said they expected more recruitments, with 54 percent looking to hire, nine percentage points over the previous.
Across the globe, hiring expectations in the Americas is strongest in Peru, Costa Rica and Colombia.
On the other hand, employers in the US and Guatemala are the least optimistic about adding employees in the quarter ahead.
Across the 17 countries surveyed in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, employers in Romania, Poland, South Africa, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden are most optimistic about hiring in the next three months while Spanish, Italian and Irish employers are the least optimistic.